Hyrulean Legends: The Sanguine Rupee
by Aginah
Summary: 20 years post-twilight princess, a new resistance reconvenes for reasons unbeknownst to most the members.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A middle-aged woman trails her shadow to a well-trodden path. She notices that the tracks upon the path, which zigzag and intertwine in hundreds of preserved impressions, were produced of horses. The trip has been a tedious one, and the woman, not being of horseman ilk, wishes for the first time in her life that she were.

Above her, a great kargarok croaks his terrible, monosyllabic melody. He has been following her tirelessly for hours now.

In crossing Hyrule Field on foot, the woman, who witnessed the birth of the new day's sun, now despairs at the sharp redness of the sun in its death throes. She worries not for the sun's departure, for it is known, like the monster from the desert whose very presence is indelible, and whose name is so feared as to be lost to all but the most knowing of tongues - it will rise again. She knows this. What truly antagonizes her is the prospect of the final leg of her journey: the forest.

There is a low outcropping of dusty rock that serves as the southern border of the field. The immediate center of the rock is cleared away, either by explosive or natural erosion. It is there her path becomes the entrance of Faron Woods, a forest comprising much of the southernmost portion of Hyrule. Inexplicable dangers are replete in the forest she gazes upon. Yet, with but rapier and an irrepressible will must she tackle these dangers at once; for her destination, which lies below Ordon Village at the foot of Hawk Grass Mountain, is a great distance still. She will traverse, north to south, through the entirety of the luxuriant forest—and she will do this alone. Given the sun's present location, much of this jaunt must also be achieved by moonlight.

She is not long in dwelling at the entrance of the forest. She gathers her impressive courage, attires herself in her frayed, off-white yeti-pelt hood and dashes into the forest.

The dusk sun in Faron Woods feeds through the dense canopy of the massive trees, blanching the furry grasses with mottles of brilliant white. The stones strewn about the forest sparkle with iridescence under the fading sunlight. The raven-haired woman is curiously drawn to the singularity of her surroundings: the sheer height of the canopy, the massiveness of the trees themselves (with plumed crowns of impossible diameter), the ubiquitous hues of green—above and below—which give the forest a salubrious appearance, and the aged yet eternally fecund smell that is carried on the visible air, bearing down heavily upon her.

The beauty so enthralls her that, for a few steps, the woman's pace slackens. A smile carves along a foreign area in her face. In this instant, she snaps out of her daze. The smile served as the alarm. She does not normally smile. It is not that she possesses a melancholic disposition, nor is she sullen. The fact that she rarely smiles hinges plainly on her upbringing as the daughter of an errant knight errant who raised her to be a stoic, contemplative warrior.

The warrior becomes the worrier, as the cause of her smile manifests within her as fear. She recalls the myths of her youth, the bedside stories pertaining to deep, lost forests of antiquity, and what became of those who couldn't escape before the man in the moon lit his beacon. Luckily, the sun still has an hour of visibility, or so she believes. She rinses her face with water from her gourd, fingers her eyes to see that they maintain the complexity of a human's, rubs her shins to ascertain the shapeliness of her muscles and sinews. She begins to dash.

A kiss of wind brushes the woman's cheek as she enters a cave passage. The cave is black as starless night, and her lantern is without yellow chu oil. She is ostensibly running blind, blindly over damp dirt and slippery rock. Her pace is rabbitlike when something adhesive clings to her legs and left arm, halting her process. She unsheathes her rapier and slices the unknown material, freeing herself. She continues with rapier at the ready. Finally, the exit comes into view from a distance. Her calm is interrupted by the sound of breaking ceramic, which resounds keenly in her left ear. She focuses, through the gloom, at the location from which she believes the sound came. Her eyes squint at what moves across the ceiling of the cave, but all she can perceive is an odd, circular glint reflecting multiple times. There is caution as the specter is out of sword range. The woman knows she is at a disadvantage. She turns face and hastens to the exit. She meets no further impediments.

Once beyond the cave the woman faces the exit with sword in hand. Her breathing is controlled. There is a scurrying sound and two large, bloodthirsty rats run past her. They squeak as if laughing at her disquiet. The woman is tickled by their presence. She then checks her left wrist. There is a gauzy but strong thread of the palest green attached. Yanking at the thread, she manages to pry her arm from the material; but it requires the whole of her strength, and she is very fatigued. She uses her rapier to sever the strands attached to her legs. Now clean, she will take the incoming landscape at a pace beneficial to rebuilding her wind.

As the land descends, a mauve fog nearly envelops the woman. She retreats a couple steps to higher ground. There is a tremor that passes through her body, which discombobulates her senses, inverting her directions. With each additional cough, the feeling seems to grow in intensity. The woman rests upon a cloudlike stone and surveys her surroundings. She notices that many of the trees in this part of the forest are dark and desiccated. The air is pungent and suffocating, with its intangible weight seemingly bearing down upon her every pore. She needs to escape, but the toxic fog stretches the length of the invisible forest floor. Standing apart from the fog, she can still feel it biting at her equilibrium. The immediacy for action is upon her, but still she cannot locate a safe passage through. Bracing herself, she tries to cut through the fog. Foreseeably, due to her distorted sense of direction, she does not penetrate much before she is lost. The pain dealt by the poison fog is immense. It wells up in her brain and she succumbs to unconsciousness.

Black fingernails grip at her lifeless body. She is hoisted by a single indigo hand and taken clear through the fog to a grassy bank that leads to a cave marked by dual pillared lamps. Placed before the cave, the woman is shaken by big, furry hands. The hands also compress the woman's chest in a steady effort to encourage respiration. She does not wake. Frantic, the hands rummage through the woman's goatskin pouch. A bottle is unstopped. Parting the woman's mouth, the hands pour an orange mélange of chunky liquid down her throat. The large hands then rest upon the ground, as there are no remaining options.

The inquiring calls of a distant owl awaken the drowsy woman. Her vision is cloudy, but she makes out the faintest of stars, as well as two black walls arching toward each other, leaving only the slightest vertical slit of the visible night sky. The woman notices that her yeti pelt hood has been bereft of her person. She locates it suspended upon a thin branch out of her reach. Wondering why she rests so cozily without it, she realizes that she is wrapped tightly in a fuzzy white blanket. She knows she should examine the circumstances surrounding her, but the relaxation and the lingering toxins gain the upper hand. She slumbers once more.

When she wakes the second time, she is fully energized and eager to finish her journey. There is a harsh fishy smell on the air. To her shock, she detects that her fuzzy covering seems to be rumbling. She flips to her feet and makes a spinning motion to draw her rapier, but the blade is not there. When she turns to face her blanket, she finds a giant humanoid of thick white fur sitting Indian-style upon the dirt. He is facing away from her and sits nearly twice her standing height.

The movement startles the creature and he turns his head to the woman. He says, "Oh, good! Yetu think Ash-Ash go to dreamland for good. Me worried sick!" Yetu's rotund tail is covered in circular-plated shields. The same overlapping fur shields heavily insulate Yetu's muscular chest. This natural muscle runs through his arms and legs. An ostentatious green mohawk is crested upon his head, somewhat hiding his large and bulbous eyes of a beautiful morning shade of aquamarine. His mouth is wide and smeared with the grease of a cooked fish. The protruding canine teeth of his plate-sized bottom jaw render his grin rather intimidating.

"What are you doing here, huh?" the woman asks with genuine interest.

"Ash-Ash not hear? Yetu now part of group, yes."

The woman's eyes widen. She walks to the front of Yetu and says, "You're a member of the Resistance, yeah?"

Yetu smiles widely and his eyes shine like rupees. He claps his hands and states, "Countman say, 'Yetu, you be big-big and more strong than boulder-man. I need you, yes-yes, for special thing."

"The Count? Will he be attending tonight's meeting?"

"No think so."

"Predictable, yeah," the woman says as she examines Yetu's fire and the growing pile of catfish bones between his knees. She kneels next to the fire, warms her hands above the flames and continues, "It's been a long time since last we convened. The rarity of the summons, along with the length of the jaunt, drained me of enthusiasm. I must've made a foolish decision somewhere, yeah. I was very tired. Very tired. I'm sorry to've troubled you, Yetu, young man."

"Yetu find you in fog. You should no go in fog. Fog bad for man. It make him sleep for good-good. But Yetu strong. And," measuring with his hand, the height of the smoke, he continues, "Yetu's head stand above the bad."

The woman directs her attention toward her suspended yeti pelt. Yetu, noticing her lack of a response, turns to face her. He sees what attracts her focus and says, "Why Ash-Ash still wear yeti skin?"

Standing with back turned and arms akimbo, the woman responds, "It's the only accouterment I possess that serves as both an article of warmth and a deterrent for enemy attack. I know how you must feel, but take solace, yeah, in the fact that I've used that pelt for two decades now. It was a gift from my father and therefore I cherish it."

Yetu stands up and ambles past the impatient woman. He smiles at her and pulls the hood from the protuberant, old root of a dead tree which once sprouted through the mountaintop. Holding the pelt vertically with both hands, he tears it in half. He then tears the halves into quarters.

The woman is enraged, but she has no weapon. And without time to prepare, the natural tools of man pale greatly to those of the yeti. It must also be stated that the woman does not wish to engage an ally she has known since his birth to two beloved yeti she dedicated a good part of her youth to befriending.

The yeti walks a few steps to the rope bridge that connects Faron Woods to Ordon Woods. Below there is a deep gorge from which only blackness is emitted. Yetu peers into the canyon, then glances back at the incoming woman. Casually, he tosses the tatters of yeti pelt into the pit and faces the woman. She is now standing beside him.

"That was a very stupid thing to do, yeah," she says, watching the white hood plummet into the darkness.

Yetu stands erect. A look of vehemence possesses his usually jovial expression. He beats his chest and speaks, "There too few us left to wear skin of yeti and think not the pain caused!"

The woman is taken aback by the depth and passion of Yetu's succinct proclamation. She did not think him capable of such eloquence, such keen sense of loss. It stabs her heart, yet she must not soften and yield to Yetu's rash actions. It would not befit her character, and it is not the response the situation requires.

Staying firm, the woman says, "It is true what you say. Ideally, every creature would keep to itself, never harming other races in any way, but this is fallacy. In the natural world there are predators and there are prey, and one's position on either side of the spectrum is never etched in stone. Take for example the Gerudo dragonfly. It is eaten by the blue frog, which in turn is eaten by the Hylian loach, which is then plucked up by the hawk. Every creature depends on others to survive. You yourself wear a light sheen around your mouth from the Ordon catfish you angled. How does my wearing a yeti pelt differentiate from your consumption of a catfish? You caught and slaughtered your fish, while my father only found the yeti corpse already in a state of decay. At that time, Snowpeak was suffering a great famine, and my father gathered the yeti solely for research, yeah. With his studies completed, he made a hood out of the yeti to preserve his memory of the specimen in a way he believed was a gesture of honor. Whether or not it was is up to you."

Yetu's stern face slowly eases back to the normal false grin created by his immense teeth. He thrice pats the woman's head and articulates, seeming on the verge of tears, "Yetu not know Ash-Ash dad care about yeti."

"My father was once a knight of Castle Town. Then when the chivalry descended into ineptitude, he suffered a disagreement with his superiors in the direction of the knights. He immediately discharged himself, leaving his honor intact. The knights became a mere mockery of their former status. The name of the Hyrule knight became jeopardized when a superior ordered the slaughter of an innocent band of bokoblins in the land west of Hyrule Gorge. Firstly, my father didn't agree with killing what he perceived as a non-threat. And he really didn't believe in traveling outside Hyrule's boundaries to do so. He would never stoop to the act of slaying the sick or wounded of any race, yeah."

Yetu lifts the woman from her feet and clasps her in an iron embrace. Holding her in his big indigo hands, he moves her away from his chest to attain eye contact. He cries, "Yetu sorry! Yetu not mean to trash Ash-Ash nice dad's gift."

"It's o-okay," the woman whispers through strained breaths, "the hood was improper to wear in a land inhabited by yeti. I don't recollect ever receiving compliments from a yeti, only distant looks of intrigue followed by concealed grimaces. It was time, yeah, for the disposal of the hood. In my delegated position as Castle Town representative of the yeti, I should never have worn that pelt."

The yeti places the woman gently back on her feet. She inhales deeply as his hands unclench her diaphragm. When she gains her breath she notices Yetu's shoulders are hanging oddly. She asks him what is wrong and he responds, "It okay. Yetu just feel he act too rash when Ash-Ash been his friend for long time now."

"Since the day your mother gave birth to you and I first peered into those beautiful blues," the woman says, gripping the yeti's forearm for sincerity.

Yetu and the raven-haired woman share a moment of friendship under the moonless sky. A sand cicada sings loudly from the pit below the bridge. It's odd presence is unnoticed by the two.

When Yetu notices the woman grasping for her rapier, he feels around at the spot on the ground where his friend had lain in her convalescence. He touches upon her sheathed blade, which she takes from him and attaches to her waist. The woman then corrects the wrinkles in her ribbed grey sweater and brushes the dirt from her maroon trousers. She roves over to the spot near the fish bones and locates her armor. Yetu never separated her from her boots, but her gauntlets, boots and plackart were all removed to aid breathing. They are stacked in a heap, sparkling with a silvery luster despite the absence of any light except the dying flame on which Yetu cooked his fish. The woman arrays herself with the ornate, reflective pieces. She is the image of health and strength. After the woman secures the remaining pieces to her person, she pulls her ponytail tight. She is ready to press onward.

Yetu quells the fire with his bare right sole. He brushes his hand through his green mohawk causing it to stiffen and stand. Taking the fish bones in hand, he dumps them into the gorge. The woman peers into the blackness underneath the bridge and then meets the gaze of Yetu who, with his left hand, gestures for the woman to lead.

They cross the bridge one at a time,to prevent certain disaster. The difference in weight must not be overlooked; the slight weight of a woman compared to the hulking mass of the yeti. As the woman crosses, a gale stirs the bridge so violently that she has to grip the ropes to steady herself. She then makes it safely across. Yetu's passage occurs uneventfully.

The woman has made it. Ordon Village is but a short walk up the trail. She thinks she already hears the gentle lapping of a pond. Yetu can smell pumpkins.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ordon Village at night bares little resemblance to its daytime persona. Gone are the children brandishing stick swords, the short men harvesting pumpkins, the fishermen crammed upon the dock, the cuccos perpetual clucks, and the calls of happy goats bouncing down the hill from the pasture. At night, all is quiet—save for the tawny catfish that periodically hit the pond surface for fireflies. Even the wind, which earlier seemed to blow so formidably, is nonexistent; the mountain keeps the wind deities at bay.

Under the falling moon, the purple and pink pastel shingles on the houses appear in varying shades of blue. The houses themselves are ramshackle but sturdy cottages built ages ago and passed down from generation to generation. The dwellings are comprised of simple materials such as wood, mud, clay, stone and straw. One house nearest the water has a waterwheel, but it is presently out of commission. Another house, standing two-stories and possessing mounted goat horns as embellishments, serves as the mayor's residence.

Yetu and the woman climb the cliff behind the mayor's house and follow a slim footpath around a bald hill. Below them lies the pond. Yetu licks his lips upon spying the drowsy catfish and greengills. After sidling around another sketchy curve in the rock face, the two allies happen upon the mouth of Southern Ordon Forest. There is a pillar of rock one must run, leap to and leap from to enter the forest. The woman set herself in a running pose, but she is snatched by Yetu's hand as the yeti dashes from the cliff and leaps the gap in a single bound.

As they enter the blacker forest, the woman withdraws a haphazardly drawn map from her pouch. Since her lantern is devoid of oil, she must squint in the very limited moonlight to see anything. It is no use, however, as the writing is too dark. The woman folds the map and places it back in her pouch. She ruminates about a solution and immediately turns to Yetu. She says, "Can you smell anything? Like a fire or food or something?"

Yetu cranes his neck and inhales deeply. He closes his eyes and tries to separate the keen forest odor from anything else he can sense. There is something. His face twists in abhorrence and he says, with eyes still closed, "There a big dead burned frog smell that way." His hand points directly south, straight ahead.

"That must be the place, yeah," the woman says.

They march onwards, stepping on cones and needles, in pitch-blackness. Considering that Yetu smelled a seemingly out of place odor, and given that his nose is not that many times stronger than hers, the woman believes that their destination must not be too distant. However, the house still eludes them five minutes in, while the darkness harassing them only builds. It is only due to Yetu's stern declaration that he has not lost the scent that the woman does not change her path.

Weary and worn, the woman stumbles a bit but hides her misstep under the cover of darkness. The soup alleviated the pains that stemmed from the poison fog, and it had also added a serendipitous bounce to her step, but the sheer exhaustion incurred by her journey is undercutting her remaining energy. Her legs are mush and she is walking on will alone.

Fortunately, the green cottage pops up at the foot of Hawk Grass Mountain. It shares the style of the Ordon Village homes, but it glows with the vivid colors of newness. A stream trickles down the mountain face and forks behind the house to a water wheel a quarter the size of the one in Ordon Village. There are two red lanterns on each side of the white-painted door, and a cobblestone path leading from the door to the shoddily crafted and unfinished split-rail fence. Trees of great height surround the land, making it seem as if the house is as natural as the land it was built upon.

Before the woman reaches the walkway, the sight of starry fireflies takes her aback. Within the fenced-off land they are innumerable. Everywhere the shades of blue, yellow, pink and green flicker and float. This sensation occurs from the grass all the way to the treetops. The woman scrutinizes the insects and wonders why they only appear within the perimeter of the land.

She hobbles up to the front door and notices that Yetu is walking in a different direction. She says, "Hey, where are you going?"

Yetu doesn't face her and simply replies "Yetu want to look stream for fish."

The woman nearing the house can hear many voices inside, none of which are instantly discernible. As she is about to knock, the door flies open. A man shorter than the woman peers wide-eyed at her from a scrunched face. His chin length brown hair is jagged and wiry, and his sideburns reach his jawbone. He wears a simple sleeveless white, one-button Henley tucked under a blue hakama fastened with a gold belt and his family's banner, which is emblazoned with the image of a white deku nut on blue background.

For a moment, he stares blankly in awe. His silence is contagious as the voices within the house cease as well. When he breaks his daze, he exclaims, "By Ordona's horn! I've been waiting all night for you to arrive."

The man, still holding the door, turns to the kitchen and hollers, "Lady Ashei is come!" Turning back to Ashei, the man says, "Hello, lady, my name is Talo and I am the First Associate to Colin, Resistance Representative of Ordon Village. I am very pleas-"

"Please spare her the formalities, Talo. Accompany her to our table," states a deep, masculine voice from the kitchen.

Talo smiles at Ashei and grips her gauntleted right hand. They walk over a woven reed rug to the kitchen. Other than the rug, the floors and walls in this part of the house are plain and unadorned. Ashei conjectures that the house is even younger than she initially calculated. Shades of brown constitute everything from the chairs to the cabinets to the support beams.

The kitchen is left of the entryway, lit by a large lantern hanging from the low ceiling. Two windows, one on the north face and one on the east, are covered with closed blue curtains. A rocking chair sits before a wood-burning stove is built into the northeast corner of the house. Below it on the eastern wall is a black stone bar with a stack of plates and cutting utensils on top. There is a small standalone cupboard situated beside the bar. The only other article of furniture in the kitchen is the small square table at which three people now sit.

"Is it true? Are you an Original?" A sleepy-eyed woman says in a childish tone, as she stands out from her chair and sidles next to Talo. The woman has blonde pigtails and wears a green dress more befitting Castle Town than Ordon. The woman also wears a grasshopper necklace of gold, ladybug earrings, a skulltula ring and pink butterfly wings. She is shoeless, so Ashei believes this is the woman's home.

"Oh, where are my manners," the woman says. She bows to Ashei and speaks, "My name is Agitha. I hail from the great Hyrule Castle Town. You've met my husband, Talo. Please have a seat. Would you like anything? Maybe a milk or pumpkin soup?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Ashei lies. She sits down in the chair vacated by Agitha.

"Oh, you must want something. You've come all the way from Snowpeak. I will make you honey water. That at least will ease your body, which must be sore from the journey."

Ashei smiles at Agitha. She then faces the blonde, doe-eyed man who leans back in his chair. His arms are crossed. He is wearing the same kind of shirt as Talo, save that his left arm bears a green sleeve that extend to mid-forearm and is strapped across his ribs. There is a golden belt around his waist above a forest green waistband. Covering his crossed legs, a tan tunic skirt fans out from under the waistband, which leads to white, shin-length pants and buskins. His Ordon sword and shield hang from the back of his chair.

He leans forward and smiles. Raising his right hand as if taking a vow, though he means it a greeting, he says, "Hello, Lady Ashei. I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am. My name is Colin, son of-"

"Rusl," Ashei interjects. "I know. The resemblance is, well, it's not uncanny, yeah. You are shorter but more handsome than he. But your air is very much the same as his. You are both confident and youthful." Ashei's eyes widen. She leans forward and whispers, "Speaking of Rusl. Is he, yeah? Is he, you know?"

"No, thank the Goddesses. My father is a simple man. After the Hero of Legend defeated the King of Evil, my father hung up his boots and became a mayor's aide. He still does that task to this day."

"Really?" Ashei says, with her face bending in shame or disbelief.

"My father," Colin says, missing completely Ashei's somewhat negative tone, "is able to travel, which he loves, but most the time he's with his family: My mother, my sister and I. This is what's most important to him."

Ashei smiles and lightens, "Family is…truly important." After this statement, Ashei stares at the candles on the table. She seems dispirited by something.

Agitha returns with a tray of drinks. To Ashei, who sits on the east side of the table, she hands a mug of honey water. Talo, sitting on the south side, with his teardrop eyebrows, receives a bottle of milk and a warning that it will be his last. Agitha places a plate with bread and a saucer of hornet honey in front of Colin, as well as a mug of hot apple water. To the youthful, green-haired woman in the white dress, Agitha gives a bottle of green potion. Agitha tells her, "Talo received this gift from his brother as a gag, as Talo cannot perform magic. I hope you enjoy it."

"I'm s-sure I will," speaks the timid, oval-faced girl with ringlet hair.

"I can't believe that I'm sharing the presence of an original member of the Resistance," Talo inserts. He takes a long pull on his milk bottle and slams the empty bottle on the table.

"You speak with my father every day," Colin asserts, wondering how Talo could forget such a glaring fact.

"Yeah, I do," Talo chuckles, "but I don't really see him like that. I know him. I've always known him. To me, he's just my best friend's dad, my friend, a hero in farmers' attire."

Ashei focuses her attention on the shy girl to her right. The girl is avoiding eye contact, but taking many furtive peeks at the middle-aged heroine.

In her rocking chair by the oval stove, Agitha knits a shirt for her son. She notices Ashei's inquiring gaze and speaks, "That's Mel. She is a witch. Can you believe that? Such a beautiful girl!"

Blushing, Mel smiles. She waves at Ashei and says, "I am a witch, tis true."

Ashei then notices Mel's big violet eyes, which glimmer under crooked red circular frames. She asks her, "Are you also a member of the Resistance?"

Mel giggles oddly, culminating with a light snort. She speaks, "I'm not _that_ talented. No. I'm just an assistant, like Talo."

"Just an assistant?" Talo says passionately.

"I'm sorry. So sorry," Mel says, shrinking in her chair, "I'm so very sorry for that. Please forgive me for my reproach."

Talo's eyes close. His neck falters under the weight of feeling completely insufferable. He leans his chair back to four legs and attains eye contact with Mel. Talo says, "Listen, I didn't really mean it. No need to beat yourself up about it. It was nothing, alright?"

Mel smiles and readjusts her glasses.

Colin cuts through the drama and states plainly, addressing Ashei, "Do you know what we're all doing here?"

"No," Ashei says. She grins in a reserved way, "I really thought you would know."

"Ha-ha-ha," laughs Agitha. "No one seems to know, yet so many have been called! What's going on?"

"'So many have been called.' What does she mean, precisely?" Ashei asks. All four Resistance members are now leaning above the candles with their elbows supporting their weight.

"I'm a captain and you're a captain," Colin says. "That's two of five. The other three captains are bringing assistants. Just how many, I'm unsure."

Ashei makes a perturbed face and says, "This is never how it was run before. How can so many individuals hope to get along? What can be so dangerous that it requires the combined force of so many? This is quite strange."

"Have you met the Count?" Talo asks of Ashei.

"No, I haven't. Snowpeak is cutoff from the rest of Hyrule. News doesn't get there. Have any of you met him."

Colin's gaze is transfixed on the dancing candle. He whispers, "Briefly."

"Don't be foolish, Colin. You know you never really met him," Talo says, speaking rather loudly given the time of night.

"Okay. I really only spoke with his messenger, but messages were delivered from him to me and I to him."

"What about you?" Ashei says, looking in the direction of Mel.

"Never. My master says that she knows him, but she's never said a word about him." Mel scans the wall as she rakes her mind for any beneficial information. "Nope. I cannot recall ever hearing any accounts of his life."

"Who is your master? I assume from your, yeah, magical nature, you are the apprentice of Telma's successor. She liked to dabble in mysticism," Ashei says, while her eyes playfully widen.

"Yes. Telma decided like Rusl that she wanted to settle down. She still works at the bar, but she designated my master Syrup to be her replacement should the Resistance be called to order. Syrup is a master witch who lives in a hut in Old Kakariko."

"Is she not here yet?" Ashei asks.

Mel's eyes twice glance at something to Ashei's left. Ashei smiles, cranes her neck and scans the space behind her chair. There is only the eastern wall. When the eastern wall becomes the southern wall there is a wooden door. Ashei rotates her head back to Mel. She asks, "Is she outside?"

"Yes," Mel says, stifling a grin.

Ashei immediately heads for the door.

Talo and Colin stand up. "She's not much for chitchat, huh?" Talo whispers to Colin while strapping his bow to his back. He ties a white hachimaki to his head.

There under the table is Mel's black pointed hat. She puts it on and drapes her big red supply bag over her shoulder. She finds her silver slippers and plunges her black/yellow-striped stockings into them.

Talo walks over to Agitha, asleep in the rocker, to kiss her goodbye. After saying their farewells, she follows him to the door where Mel, Colin and Ashei are standing. Upon exiting the house, the smell of burning frogs that Yetu had earlier detected scratches at their noses. Talo cowers, shields his nose and curses the smell with expletives. The rest of the group endures without a tinge of melodrama.

As they follow the odor, Agitha, leaning against the doorframe, says, "Have you ever seen such a glorious sight?" When Ashei stops to listen, Agitha continues, "These babies came here after I planted a deku nut. The tree never grew, but the fireflies made this land their home. I don't know why. Maybe they can sense that my spirit is the same as theirs." Agitha looks up and smiles. She continues, "In the city, I never imagined such magic could exist. To live among a swarm of living light; this is the composition of my dreams."

"Where are you going with all this?" asks Ashei impatiently.

"The world is a dark place. Less so than before, but the golden age of Hyrule is behind us."

"That's untrue," Colin asserts, "the world was never dark. Hyrule was simply sick for a couple years."

Ashei looks askance at Colin. She blows at her bangs with a strong gust. She says, "You were a mere child then, yeah? Let me tell you something, then: two decades ago your father sugarcoated his account of the outcome of the war. It is true that the Hero won, but the battle did not clear this world of the darkness that remains today."

"I'm not sure I follow you. I mean," Colin says, with head askew, "I never detect much darkness in Ordon Village or the surrounding forests."

"Okay, but that's just-"

"If you lived in Castle Town, I think your opinion would differ," Agitha says, unaware of having interrupted Ashei.

"Exactly," Mel says, immediately becoming bashful after the fact.

"Please continue," Agitha implores, "I'm interested to hear your opinion on the subject. Given that you were born after all this."

Mel taps her foot nervously. She says, "I was born in Kakariko three years after the twilight. I now live in the desolate Old Kakariko, and I can tell you that the sun comes up everyday, but the dark, unclean feeling remains, as if the very air we breathe contains the effluvia of something sinister, something which was never washed away, some presence which will forever exist as a cruel joke from the goddesses themselves."

Agitha beams, "Yes, yes! That is also the way I feel, which is why I cherish these babes. The fireflies act as my beacon of security in this dark world. Everyone needs a light in the darkness."

Ashei grabs a bottle, the same bottle that when filled with yeti soup saved her life, and scoops up two fireflies. She then stops the bottle.


End file.
